Bitter
by Mademoiselle Anime Amour
Summary: Namine hates seeing love and romance at school, feeling as bitter as the coffee she sips at the local cafe. What happens when this crazy little thing called love actually hits her? Rated T.


**A/N: Yep, I'm back with another KH one-shot. I'm so addicted to this fandom that it is rare that I write for anything else besides Death Note. Anyway, enjoy this story.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own a thing.**

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**Bitter**

Huffily, Namine opened the door to the local coffee shop, slamming it upon her arrival despite the other visitors present. The bell tolled too loudly to suit her, which embarrassed her when the people stared at her, obviously annoyed by her enraged entrance. She pretended that she didn't care about their opinions, proceeding to stick her nose up in the air and taking a seat by one of the windows. It rained steadily today, translucent beads of water splashing onto the glass on which it slowly slid. Massive slate colored clouds dominated the sky as well, promising the gloominess of the rest of the day. The urban scene that dourly played out before her slightly inspired Namine to remove her sketchpad from her tote bag and draw. But, after what happened to her at school today, she wasn't so sure if she felt like doing what she loved most. The events surrounding this miserable Wednesday had drained her passion away for the time being. This was definitely a day reserved for the inevitable self-loathing and pondering over her suspected flaws.

Well, considering she woke up at six-thirty in the morning before the sun even rose, which made her extremely grumpy. She actually fell up the steps on her way to chemistry class later, and everyone in the surrounding area teased her for it. Come on, she just tripped! It was no big deal, though it apparently was to the idiots at her pathetic excuse for a high school. Speaking of loathsome people, how could she forget the couples who seriously needed to get rooms? Ugh, nothing made her more bitterly depressed than to see them parade about the corridors. They showed off their worthless "love" to her, rubbing it in her face. If she had departed from her polite demeanor (which she had been on the verge of doing), Namine would have cursed at them. Throw an obscene gesture, cast a dirty look—anything to help her cure this agony.

Days like these impelled her to wish that she could graduate as soon as possible, just to eliminate the peer pressure to date from her mind. Nobody wanted her around anyway, at least not the guys. Besides, she found out during an excruciating hot day in gym class that one that she had been eyeing for some time strode breezily with her friend Olette. And her ex-crush even managed to find some female sucker! Namine brooded deeply as she continued watching the rain splatter on the window. Eventually, she remembered she was at a coffee shop, so she walked up to the counter to order a nice, warm mocha. Oh, that sounded good right now. Once the clerk gave her the order, she thoughtfully sipped the hot liquid, enjoying the very taste of it. To cheer herself further, she even mixed in some cream that been set at her table. Why not treat herself to that sweet stuff? After all the crap she put up with today, she felt she deserved it.

As Namine absentmindedly twirled a strand of her spun gold hair, her thoughts turned to those stupid couples. In fact, instead of cursing, she remembered saying something rude to Larxene and her boyfriend...

_They had been busy kissing during lunch break while walking toward Axel's car. She recalled how much she envied their precious happiness, as sinful as it sounded. Then again, she was imperfect._

"_Get a room, you two!" she shouted, so that they could hear her. Larxene certainly did, for she narrowed her teal eyes menacingly._

"_What's your problem, brat? Hasn't any guy loved you before?"_

_Namine seethed. "There is no such thing as love. Axel's gonna dump you in two weeks."_

_He smirked, but looked displeased as well. "Who said, 'fortune teller'?" Besides, you're just jealous."_

So she was downright jealous of couples, OK? And that memory forced a tear to fall into her coffee cup just now. Shoving her drink abruptly aside, she settled her head into crossed arms and sensed overwhelming sobs attack her at once. Great, an emotional breakdown, that's what she needed in public. Go right ahead tears, there's no stopping you now. Who invented depression? Namine resented the person or deity or whatever that delighted in the art of misery, a different art from her own. Furthermore, she wanted to know who in the heck invented love. She could kill that guy if her crying would stop. But, it refused to, even as the tiny bell pealed out again. Footsteps came toward her table (she assumed), and a hand rested on her shoulder. Wait, what hand? It must be the one rubbing her shoulder gently, attempting to soothe her pain. Who would do that?

"Go away!" she yelled in a muffled tone due to her soaked hoodie sleeves. However, the hand still massaged her, despite her protests. The owner must really like her or something like that.

"Tell me what's wrong," a soft voice implored, murmuring tenderly in her ear. Very slowly, Namine lifted her blonde head so that her watery blue eyes met the concerned gaze of the young man's. She knew him as a friendly, cordial guy named Marluxia who sat by her in art class. They were established friends and often confided in each other after school when they walked toward their homes. But, today, she didn't feel like spilling her guts to anybody, not even to him. Just as she resumed burying her head, Marluxia stopped her by holding her elbow.

"Maybe we should talk this over at my place. My parents don't get home til six usually. Come on."

Sighing heavily, Namine blew a wisp of hair from her face as she wiped it using her already drenched shirt sleeve. She picked up her cup of coffee to slurp the rest of that now lukewarm liquid down her throat before leaving her money on the table. With this done, she proceeded to tilt her head toward the thoughtful guy before her.

She apologized awkwardly, "Sorry for making a scene. It probably sucks for you to even be in the company of some romantically deprived psycho."

He shrugged while a gentle smile settled on his lips. "I don't mind. You've clearly had a bad day, so I'm taking the liberty of lifting your spirits."

"Thanks for the effort," she said half-sarcastically, opening the door to exit the coffee shop. Marluxia followed behind her, of course, showing how loyal and caring a friend he was.

Stray tears streaked down Namine's cheeks on the walk to their destination, though she refused to allow him to find out what magnitude her misery reached. Eventually, through the pouring torrents of chilly early autumn rain, they made it. As gentlemanly as always, Marluxia held the door open for her, his sympathetic eyes assessing her. Her cheeks reddened from a combination of excessive crying and a burning blush, her hair was a disheveled heap upon her head, and her own blue orbs looked incredibly bloodshot. Yet, she never appeared more beautiful to him. Tentatively, she stepped over the threshold to meander her way inside his elaborate living room. She shivered as she settled herself onto the suede sofa due to the cold of the rain. Inwardly, she regretted not going straight home when she had the chance.

It seemed Marluxia read her thoughts, for he walked inside just then holding a blanket, which he tossed to her. He smiled at the confused look flickering across her face.

He told her reassuringly, "I got you this blanket. I figured you would be cold from all this horrible rain outside. After all, I am your friend, so I should know something like that about you."

"Yeah, whatever," Namine sighed, holding the white blanket close to her to wrap herself around with it. Noting her disgruntled tone, her male confidante hopped over to a place on the sofa next to her and offered her another beaming smile. She merely crossed her arms, scooting further away from him. Maybe if he provided her with these cute expressions some other day, she would have been happier.

In fact, she even stated frostily, "I'm not in the mood, Marluxia. I had a crappy day."

"I can see that," he wryly joked, "but can you provide me with the details of this crappy day."

He draped a consoling arm around her shoulder, which was just the support she needed at the moment in order to tell her brief story. A cautious smile curved her delicately pink lips once he executed this small action. It was rather sweet and thoughtful of him.

"OK," she relented, "I'll tell you. Well, all I did was trip over my feet, and people would laugh at me. But...I guess what really bothers me most is the couples. It just seems like they love rubbing their happiness in single people's faces. And Olette's going out with someone. Ah, the peer pressure is so insane these days. I get so cynical about it."

Namine leaned against his shoulder to simply relax, not thinking much of what this implied though Marluxia knew exactly. He wrapped both of his arms around her firmly, nestling his chin in her blonde hair.

Somewhat surprised by this, she lifted her head to glimpse his glowing sapphire eyes boring into her own, as though searching her soul for the truth. For, he assumed that she failed to notice something important, something that could permanently alter the relationship between them. A certain emotion glimmered in his eyes that struck her as absolutely beautiful. Why didn't she realize before how perfect he was? From his pink hair to his personality to his facial features, she admired everything regarding him. Ever since art class last year, they formed a bond that was practically fated to go beyond friendship.

Pushing strands of her hair back from her ear, he whispered into it, "I suppose I can solve this dilemma of yours, Namine. I've actually been waiting for this to happen."

She stared fearlessly back at him. "Oh, what would that be, Marluxia?"

How demurely she put that! That question certainly delighted him, especially considering the desire to become even closer to her resounded clearly in his heart. He had secretly loved this artistic angel for quite some time now. Yet, he was unsure of how to approach her until this exact moment.

Toying lovingly with her gold tresses, he murmured, "I want to kiss you, Namine. I want to hold you, comfort you, and everything in this world to make you happy."

"Marluxia, you're so sincere it's almost cheesy," she responded laughingly, but a hint of requited love resonated within her tone. With this signal, she allowed him to kiss her lips, to adore her as no guy had ever done before in her life. So, she received her first kiss with someone close to her, close enough to form the strongest bond possible. And she couldn't have chosen a better guy.

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**A/N: Ah, Marunime fluff, I love it so! Namine's crappy day was based on a true story from me, except with no coffee shop, no guy, no rain, and definitely no tripping. 'Cause sometimes, I'm the jealous type, and I've been single since birth. Yay! XP But, I don't really want to bring up my lack of love life here. I just felt like turning it into a fluff since I'm hopelessly into happy endings, even if they don't happen in life.**

**By the way, I managed to make coffee sound good. I'll let all of you in on a little secret: I hate coffee. XD**


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